A Court of Mist and Fury Review

“Feyre survived Amarantha’s clutches to return to the Spring Court—but at a steep cost. Though she now has the powers of the High Fae, her heart remains human, and it can’t forget the terrible deeds she performed to save Tamlin’s people.

Nor has Feyre forgotten her bargain with Rhysand, High Lord of the feared Night Court. As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world cleaved in two.”

First, before I make any commentary about the book–let’s talk about this amazingly beautiful cover! Feyre’s armor and tattoos and beautiful detailed and a kind of foreshadow for the book.

After reading this book aka staying up all night and avoiding socializing with friends and family for the past 16 hours, I am left torn with whether or not I loved it.

I am even currently struggling with this review because I have such mixed emotions!

Let’s start from the beginning:

From Huntress to Trophy Wife

Feyre is troubled and plagued by the actions she preformed to save Tamlin from Amarantha and because of this, has start to lose the fire and feistiness I adored in A Court of Thorns and Roses. It was depressing watching her literally deflate–Feyre swamped with guilt to the point she can no longer find joy in painting and her wasting away without her voice heard. I hated watching her go from crazy-in-love huntress to yes-dear-whatever-you say. I now know it was necessary as the audience to watch Feyre regain her strength but it was still heartbreaking to watch her fade away.

Me Man, You Woman

Guilty over the killings she did to save her lover, Feyre allows Tamlin to shape her into a trophy wife. I was never a fan of Tamlin–there I said it! I never felt their love was truly genuine and healthy and this book proved it to the extreme. Going from loving her to literally locking her inside the castle, it made me despise him and despise how weak he made Feyre. Feyre is the picture of oppression while living with Tamlin–constantly having guards follow her, not allowed to listen to “man talk”, and is forced into a meek position any person with half a brain could realize she was not made for that role. For those who loved Tamlin– I am pretty sure you are pissed off at Maas.

Tamlin the Emasculated

AND UGH! The Ending! Do not get me started on that! Tamlin is literally the most overrated, poor excuse of a male. He uses losing Feyre as an excuse for his actions and justifies it! If that is not internalized dominance I do not know what is.

Rhysand aka Can-I-Get-His-Number? aka Take-Me-Flying

Rhysand. I loved him in the first book and now, I fell in love with him. Through Feyre, we are able to learn more about the High Lord of the Night Court, who is more than his demeanor–dedicated,dreamy, thoughtful, dreamy, powerful, loyal, and dreamy. He truly and utterly cares for Feyre and it was heartbreaking to watch as he pain-stinkingly cares and helps rebuild Feyre after Tamlin breaks her down.

And the Court of Dreams… richly imaginative and otherworldly, Maas has a way of world-building that is unparalleled. We learn that Rhysand is more than just his devilishly good looks–his love for his people and friends is staggering and humbling. A dreamer, Rhysand proves to be the perfect mate for Feyre, giving her the freedom she truly deserves.

Was There Even A Love-Triangle?

I know A LOT of people where upset at the possibility of a love triangle with Rhysand but Maas handled it in a more mature way. Rhys proves to be the better candidate for Feyre’s love–both of them survivors, guilty over their pasts, dreamers, and determined to change the dynamics of their world. I did not like how she previously portrays Tamlin as this perfect guy then makes him do a 180 and become a complete hyper-masculine beast. Did she believe that it would only be okay for Feyre to fall in love with Rhysand if Tamlin went batshit crazy? Tamlin is only present in the beginning and end of the book and as an audience we do not get a full understanding of the hows and whys he treated Feyre the way he did.Maybe with the next book with Feyre manipulating him, we can get a better picture.

I HATED THE ENDING WITH A BURNING PASSION

It felt like it was completely and utterly rushed. Everything bad that could possibly happen happened in 10 pages and it was too crowded for the storyline. The story went from Feyre and Rhysand being all lovey-dovey to a nosedive of A1 steak sauce drama. The Cliffhanger is ridiculous and I am kind of pissed off how everything went down.

OVERALL

Maas did it again, building a beautiful world and crafting such vivid characters kept my attention and had me laughing at certain points.